Brendan Scanland
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It’s now Day 29 of the government shutdown, and while paychecks are on pause — hunger is not.
From Washington to Pennsylvania, families are turning to food banks for help — that includes federal workers who are bracing for yet another missed paycheck.
Long lines at a food drive in Hyattsville, Maryland, lead to fresh produce, milk, bread and other necessities every Tuesday. It looks and sounds like any other food drive, but this one caters to a specific group of people.
“These are the people you usually don’t see in these lines, or they’re usually helping out at events like this at local food banks. To be on the other end of it is kind of — it’s life changing,” said Shaneice Childs.
Childs works for the federal government, just like every other individual in line at one of the five Capital Area Food Bank distribution sites this week.
“It’s eye-opening for sure,” Childs added.
Roughly 20% of all federal workers, nearly 700,000 of them, call the capital region home — and many are staring down a second missed paycheck they can’t afford to lose.
“All resources have been exhausted,” said Childs.
The Capital Area Food Bank started hosting emergency distributions just one week after paychecks stopped.
“We noticed that the lines were just, you know, double what we had anticipated,” said Radha Muthiah, CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank.
Over 300 families were served at each site last week. But this week, Muthiah said there’s a higher demand.
“This week, we brought even more food — so closer to 400 to 450 families can be served at each of these sites. And we see that there’s a steady stream of individuals coming in,” Muthiah said.
The distribution sites are made possible with help from the USDA, local retailers, wholesalers and generous donations.
“We have had thousands of people send small checks, some send bigger checks to be able to support their neighbors in need,” said Muthiah.
“Even if the lawmakers don’t have your back or they’re not showing much concern, the community will step up for you,” said Childs.
But if the shutdown drags on and more paychecks are missed, lines are expected to grow — as will the uncertainty among federal workers like Childs.
“You don’t know what to expect. You don’t know when it’s going to end. And the bills are not stopping,” said Childs. “I’m really hoping that they can come to a resolution this week before the first.”
“If this shutdown stretches even further, and people miss a second paycheck or more, these lines will exponentially increase,” said Muthiah.
Cities and towns coast to coast are seeing the same thing: communities stepping up to feed one another when paychecks stop and when federal nutrition programs are set to run out of money in a matter of days.
